Test-Tube Babies May Not Grow As Tall As Other Kids

Okay, this one is just plain odd. Researchers in Australia just discovered that 3-10-year old boys whose mothers used fertility drugs to conceive, were an average of an inch shorter than boys conceived naturally. Girls were also a bit shorter but there wasn’t as strong a connection between the drugs and their height.

Like good researchers should, the Australian team looked for alternative explanations. For example, is it possible that something other than the drugs—maybe something that caused the fertility problems themselves—be behind the height differential? Apparently not. According to lead researcher Wayne Cutfield, kids conceived with the aid of the drugs were shorter than kids whose parents had had trouble conceiving but eventually did so without meds.

If you’re taking fertility meds, don’t panic. The phrase “fertility drugs” is pretty fuzzy—some women take oral medication, others have hormone injections, and still others have both. It’s not clear which one or which combination is the culprit. Plus, this study was pretty small and there’s a lot more investigating to be done. But it’s kind of interesting, isn’t it?